> What exactly are the details of the scam?
There are several variations, but the basic scheme starts
with a story about how this person has obtained a large
sum of money they need to move out of the country. There
is some reason why they can't do it themselves (they are being
watched, the money was obtained illegally, they are on the
run, etc). After you get drawn into the scam, they tell you:
1) They need some money to cover expenses (bribe a bank
official, pay bank charges etc)
2) They need an account to transfer the money to. So they
ask for the details of your bank account and permission
to deposit and withdraw. They explain this as a money
laundering scheme. After this your bank account is
emptied.
After you have done one of the two above, you don't hear from
them again (unless you end up on a sucker list and get hit
with the same scam again).
--
Dr. Mark Green mark_at_cs.ualberta.ca
McCalla Professor (780) 492-4584
Department of Computing Science (780) 492-1071 (FAX)
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada
Received on Wed May 23 2001 - 01:44:45 BST